Condenser



A. H. s ss CONDENSER I Filed llay 1, 1922 hue/72W: 44040/2; .5055,

Nov. 11, 1924.

UNITED STATES AT NT" OFFICE.

momm- H. sass, or uouNr VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'ro wEsrEnNn'LEcTmc COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.," A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONDENSER.

Application filed May 11, 1922. Serial No. 560,000.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown thatI, ADOLPH H. Sass, a

citizen of the United States, residing at' Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Condensers, of which the ollowing' is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description- This invention relates, in general, to condensers and more 'partlcularly to condensers of the variable type.

In the common type of variable condenser in which air is used as a dielectric, 1t

' is necessary to provide a very small sepsize.

aration' between opposing plates in order to obtain a condenser of suitable capacity and one which is not unnecessarily large in It is, therefore, necessary to space the opposing plates very accurately in order to insure the necessary clearance. It

has been the common practice heretofore to mount the movable plates and the fixed plates of such condenser on separate mount ings and to employ spacers for insuring a given separation between the plates. However, with such a construction employing a large number of plates, it is difiicult to insure the correct spacing between all plates, even though workingto very close 3 mechanical limits since the effect of a slight error in the thickness of the spacers is cumulative and becomes highly object-ionable where. a large number of plates are em loyed.

t is an object of the present invention to provide a variable condenser in which the desired separation between plates can be obtained without working. to unnecessarily close limits. p It is another object of thisinvention to provide such va structure which is cheap ofmanufacture and the electrical constants 'of which will not change -material1y under service conditions.

-To accomplish these objects, and in ac-.

cordance with a feature of the invention, there is provided a condenser in which both the movable plates and the fixed plates are supported on the same shaft and the dis tance between ad ac ent plates is determined 7 by. spacingmeans. In .accordance with another featureL-of the invention, the outer portions of the plates are so supported as to prevent any appreciablechangein the spacing 'therebetween. Y

of the fixed plates; Fig. 4 is a view of one of themovable plates; and Fig 5 shows the manner in which theouteredges of the plates are supported.

The drawings show a plurality of fixed plates 5, 5 mounted alternately with a plurality of movable plates 6, 6 upon a rotatable shaft member 7 Rigidly secured to the shaft 7 is a square insulating bushing 8 which is preferably molded in position, but may be fastened to the shaft by means of key ways or by pinning. The fixed plates 5, 5 are provided, as shown, with circular perforations!) of suitable diameter to permit the plates to rotate freely about the bushing 8, the corners of which ,are preferably rounded slightly as shown.

Tn assembling the structure, an end plate or washer 11 is threaded overthe lower portion of the shaft until it strikes a shoulder portion (not shown in the drawing). Movable plates 6, 6 are then threaded upon the shaft alternately with fixed plates 5, 5 until the desired number of plates are provided, adjacent plates being in each case provided'with spacing washers 12, 12 of insulating material such as phenol fibre/or hard rubber. A spring washer 13 is then placed on the end of the shaft and the plates Zare clamped together. the desired amount by means of the nuts 14, 14.

Perforations or openings 15, 15 are propreferably provided with indentations 17, I

17- "for accurately spacing the plates. 'In mounting the condenser-upon a panel 18, the

.fixed plates are held in position by means of the screws 19, which. engage with the mounting brackets 10, 10 of the upper fixedplate. knurled knob is rigidly sesecured to the shaft to facilitate rotation and preferably a dial member 21 is also secured to the shaft.

Upon turning the knob 20, the square bushing 8 causes the rotation of the movable plates, while the fixed plates are prevented from rotating by means of the mounting brackets 10 and the ,clamping members 16, the bushing 8 therefore, rotating freely in the opening 9 of these plates. 7

' In the structure described, the condenser plates and the separating members are preferably punched from sheet stock which can easily be held to very close commerical limits. Since the separation between adjacent plates is, in each case, controlled by a single member, no difficulty is experienced in maintaining close separation of plates thus insuring a small compact condenser for a given capacity. Moreover, the method of assembling the condenser is economical and insures uni-form electrical constants which do not change appreciably under service conditions.

The invention claimed is: f 1. In a condenser, a rotatable insulated shaft and a plurality of parallel plates mounted thereon, alternate of said plates.

being rotatable with said shaft and insulated from the remainder of said plates.

2. In a condenser, a rotatable shaft and a plurality of pairs of parallel plates mounted thereon, one of each pairs of said plates being rotatable with the shaft and insulated 5. A rotatable insulated shaft having a plurality of parallel plates mounted thereon, alternate ones-of said plates being keyed to the shaft which rotates freely through the other of said plates, and electrical connections for each set of alternate plates.

6. A' rotatable insulated shaft, a plurality of parallel plates mounted thereon, spacing members of insulating material separating said plates, and means to electrically connect alternate plates and to assist said spacing members in maintaining said plates in spaced relation. v

7. In a condenser, an insulated shaft, a plurality of parallel movable plates, and a plurality of. parallel fixed plates insulated from said movable plates, all of said plates being supported on said shaft.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe myname this 6th dayofMay, A. D. 1922.

- ADOLPH H. SASS. 

